REED London Online

The REED London Online project aims to bring together documentary evidence of pre-modern London-centric theatre, performance, and music from 1100 to 1650. Growing from the transformational Records of Early English Drama (REED) project that has over four decades changed scholarly understandings of performance culture in England, Scotland, and Wales, REED London Online establishes an openly accessible online collection of archival, editorial, and bibliographic materials. Invaluable to theatre historians, these records have significant value as well to cultural, political and religious historians as well: due to the nature of performance in that period, the records included in the collection are drawn from legal documents, ecclesiastical and household records, personal and diplomatic correspondence. Thus, REED London offers a rich and complex narrative of London city life as well as information about the business of performance.

REED London Online also intends to support a significant editorial goal that faces many researchers engaged in the promise of digital publication: the integration of materials already published in printed form, electronic resources, and new “born-digital” editions into one seamless environment. Starting with three “legacy” print collections – REED: Inns of Court, Ecclesiastical London, and Civic London to 1558 – REED London will also integrate Patrons and Performances website and the Early Modern London Theatre database. Next we will identify and produce smaller editions that will extend and expand our understanding of performance in and around London.